In the field of integrated circuits (ICs), a fuse is referred to a fusible interconnect wire formed in an IC. Primarily, a fuse is used to connect redundant circuits in an IC. When a defect is found in the IC by a testing process, the fuse is used to repair, or substitute the circuit having the defect. Fuses usually include laser fuses and electrically programmable fuses (Efuses). With the continuous development of the semiconductor technology, Efuses have gradually substituted the laser fuses.
Usually, an Efuse structure is made of metal or silicon. A typical Efuse structure includes an anode, a cathode, and a fuse connecting both the anode and the cathode between the anode and the cathode. When the fuse does not blow out, the Efuse structure is at a low-resistance state. When a relatively large current is passing through the fuse from the anode to the cathode, the electro-migration is often accompanied by a mass transportation. Thus, some local regions of the fuse can have a mass accumulation or whiskers; and other local regions of the fuse can have voids. The voids can cause the fuse to blow out. When the fuse blows out, the Efuse structure is at a high-resistance state. The Efuse structure has the characteristic of being transferred from a low-resistance state to a high-resistance state by an electrically current. Such a characteristic is referred as a programmable effect. Thus, the Efuse structure is a programmable fuse. Besides being widely used in the redundant circuits, the Efuse structures also have more applications, such as one time program (OTP) circuits, etc.
However, the programming power consumption of the existing Efuse structure is relatively large; and the programming time is relatively long. The disclosed device structures and methods are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.